SOUTHERN LEBANON — Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem condemned Lebanon's decision to hold its first direct negotiations with Israel since 1983 and demanded that the government end the talks and reverse its decision criminalizing the group's military activities. Qassem also set out pre-conditions for any Hezbollah dialogue with Israel, including an end to aggression on land, sea and air, an Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories, the release of prisoners, the return of displaced people, and reconstruction.

"We are continuing our defensive resistance for Lebanon and its people," Qassem said. He framed the choice facing the country in stark terms, saying, "Liberation and pride or occupation and humiliation."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the direct talks with Israel were aimed at ending the conflict with Hezbollah. Aoun accused those who drew Lebanon into war of treason. Lebanon has outlawed Hezbollah's military activities, and the group has criticized the government for entering talks with Israel to seek an end to the latest series of hostilities.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz accused Aoun of gambling with the future of Lebanon and said the Lebanese government must ensure that Hezbollah is disarmed. "If the Lebanese government continues to take cover under the wing of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, fire will break out and engulf the cedars of Lebanon," Katz said.

Despite a formal ceasefire, the Israeli army and Hezbollah have continued to trade fire across the border. The Israeli military reported strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon and attacks targeting the towns of Tibnin, Yater and Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah claimed attacks on Israeli forces within southern Lebanon. The Israeli army said sirens sounded in the town of Arab al-Aramshe after an aircraft was reported to have entered northern Israel.

Israeli attacks have killed 2,521 people and wounded 7,804 in Lebanon since March 2, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Hezbollah rejected any rollback of its posture following recent hostilities, with Qassem saying: "We will not return to the pre-March [status quo]; we will respond to the Israeli aggression and confront it. No matter what the enemy threatens, we will not retreat, we will not bow down, we will not be defeated."